My Cat Is Still Alive

[jnanian]

Just as a point on curiosity, could any chemists in the house (I see you guys over there, with your coats), explain the difference between Potassium Ferricyanide and the cyanide pill I might pop if captured behind enemy lines? If you mention Potassium Ferricyanide amongst friends usually you have to follow it with "no, I'm not planning to kill anyone".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanide_poisoning

[Photo Engineer]

The "cyanide" is tightly complexed with the Ferric ion in Ferricyanide. It will not be very harmful except in strong acid where it can liberate cyanide gas. The gas can be absorbed into the blood causing poisoning, but this would take place rather rapidly as say within hours. Since the cat is ok, there is probably no severe damage except nausea. If the cat throws up, there may be breathing difficulties. Get the advice of a good vet.

PE

[Sirius Glass]

If the fur turns prussian blue, well then do be sure to post some pics on youtube.... No, wait, scratch that: PETA would probably sue you.

PETA => People Eating Tasty Animals ?

A cat has nine lives. At most yours is down by one.

Steve

[ruilourosa]

hello

there are more fun ways to bleach a cat! and go on and tell us the truth, you did it on purpose!

[Changeling1]

Always make sure your cat has plenty of fresh water available at all times.

[Changeling1]

Always make certain your cat has plenty of fresh water available at all times.

[Kirk Keyes]

I was working in a lab and a couple Intel engineers came by to see if I could test some potassium ferricyanide that they were thinking of buying to see if they met the ACS specifications. As we were talking, the subject of toxicity came up. One Intel guy said that he had read about someone that tried to kill themselves by ingesting potassium ferricyanide.

Thinking that it was going to drop him dead immediately after eating it as would happen with a regular simple cyanide salt, the guy swallowed several grams of it. Nothing appearantly happened. So the guy took a larger amount - still not dead. So the guy eventually ate a couple hundred grams of it, and the potassium ferricyanide had still not killed him.

The story goes that even though the guy did not drop dead immediately - or even shortly after eating such large amounts of potassium ferricyanide, he did eventually die from it. His kidneys failed over the next day or so from trying to process such a large amount of the salt. Note the MSDS linked to above states, "Large doses may cause gastrointestinal upset with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and possible cramping." It ended up being a much slower and more painful way to go than he had originally planned.

At least that's how I remember the story going.

[Kirk Keyes]

I guess it could make cyanide gas in the gastric system, via reaction with the HCl.

This does not happen. Stomach acid is far too weak to break the ferricyanide complex and liberate free cyanide.

[Vaughn]

The stuff is not all that dangerous, as Heather indicated by the LD50 figures. I do not know the dilution, but assuming a 10% solution and 12grams for that 50/50 chance, the cat would have to drink about 100ml to reach that 50/50 level -- that's a lot of lapping up! But keep the cat away from your selenium toner and chromium intensifier!

[keithwms]

This does not happen. Stomach acid is far too weak to break the ferricyanide complex and liberate free cyanide.

Ah good, well then he needn't fret the toxicity of the cat farts.